I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flashing locator systems and more particularly to such systems useful for turning an outdoor light, for example, on, off or into a flashing mode, the latter for aiding others to quickly locate a particular dwelling, especially at night.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Oftentimes, an emergency distress call is made requiring that emergency medical, police, and/or fire personnel quickly locate a particular dwelling where help is needed. To find that dwelling, the emergency personnel must typically try to locate a specific address number. Oftentimes the number is not easily visible from the street so help is delayed. When such calls are made at night, there may be even greater difficulty in locating the correct address.
To overcome such problems, it has been proposed to replace the existing two-position (on/off) switch which is conventionally employed from inside the home such as by the front door to turn the outside light (such as a lamppost light, for example) on and off with a three-position flashing locator system. Such a system includes a flasher circuit such that in addition to being able to turn the light on and off in conventional manner, the switch includes a third "flashing mode" position which activates the flasher circuit to cause the outside light to repeatedly flash on and off. As they travel down the street looking for the correct address, the emergency personnel responding to the scene may have their attention drawn immediately to the flashing light and thus have a better chance to locate the correct dwelling in a hurry. But there are a couple of drawbacks with previously proposed flashing locator systems.
It will be appreciated that those who may have need to place the system in the flashing mode may be in a state of panic and perhaps in a state of diminished capacity, both physically and emotionally. As a consequence, such individuals may not be able to get to the switch at the front door to place the system into the flashing mode. Additionally, it becomes important to such individuals to know that help is on the way. Unfortunately, the individual may not be in a position to readily see or perceive that the light has begun flashing. Or, in some cases, the outside light may simply not be situated where it can be readily seen from the vicinity of the switch. In either event, the individual may not know for sure that the system has been activated and thus may feel greater panic and aggravate the situation.
Still further, many users of such flashing locator systems need to know the system is fully operational in the event its use is needed. Thus, it is important to know that the outside light is not burnt out, for example. One way of testing whether the light is working might involve simply turning the outside light on and looking to see if it is lit. If the light is difficult to see due to its positioning, such a visual test is hardly satisfactory and may even prove unduly difficult. Indeed, it is typical to perform such a test during the daytime when it is easier, and safer, to go outside to view the light to see if it is lit, and/or to change the bulb if it is not working. But, obviously, testing in the daytime makes viewing the light that much more difficult since it is difficult to determine whether the bulb is actually on.